


Upon the Stage

by jetblackprelude



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 20:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16960665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetblackprelude/pseuds/jetblackprelude
Summary: On top of being injured thanks to Maki's brazen attempts, Kokichi now had to deal with the little fact that he was trapped in the hangar with the Mastermind.





	Upon the Stage

Kokichi felt his body tremble. His heartbeat was racing. The pain coming from his back and arm injuries was horrible, like a fire spreading throughout him. Despite all that, he was still able to snatch the antidote bottle away from Kaito, who was already ill on top of being poisoned like Kokichi. He shakingly lifted the bottle to his lips and pretended to drink it. He put on a show for his shocked audience, and when Kaito was finally able to convince Maki to just leave, then a plan could start to take shape. He set off the electric bomb, and then proceeded to force Kaito to drink the antidote. 

The bottle was emptied, but the next turn of events weren’t what Kokichi expected. In a blurry daze, Kokichi tried to keep up with it all. He was suddenly grabbed by Kaito and forced to crash their mouths together. It was a strength that hadn’t been there in their little altercation only moments ago. He felt cool liquid mixed with the taste of blood slide into his mouth. Kaito was trying to make the other boy drink at least part of the antidote. The mere thought of it angered the supreme leader. There was no guarantee this would even work properly, since the bottles were for a single dosage.

With the drink split between them, Kaito pulled away and wiped his mouth. The moment that he was let go, Kokichi scrambled to get up and put some distance between them. He coughed and spitted into his neckerchief. He thought about pulling out the small poisoned arrows that Maki had shot him with, simply because he hated her, but knew it’d only aggravate the wounds.

“Y-You idiot!!” Kokichi hissed at the astronaut. “If we both die in the next few minutes, then it’s you’re damn fault!”

“Relax. The antidote might not work exactly as intended, but it’ll still buy us some time.” Kaito sighed and languidly got up from his spot on the floor. He glanced at the wound on his arm, and seemed mildly displeased at it. 

Kokichi hesitated, there was something in the other teen’s behavior that seemed off. Frankly, he expected Kaito to yell back at him like usual. “I didn’t realize you were such an expert on poisons,” said Kokichi. 

“It’s just something I heard about before, no big deal. The pain won’t disappear but it should start to ease up.” He waved dismissively before placing hands on his waist and smiling widely. “So! You gonna tell me what your plan is? You were only able to disable the Nanokumas in the immediate area, right?”

“Nanokumas, so that’s what they’re called. What a stupid name.” He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this conversation.

“Hey, I may be the mastermind but it’s not like I’m in charge of the little tech details!” He sounded far too cheerful for that statement.

Kokichi’s instinct was to flee. Would he be able to open the door and climb into the abandoned Exisal before Kaito reached him? Although he did start to feel a little better, his legs were too shaky and his back was still burning where the arrow hit him. For the moment, he opted to say, “You sure owned up to it quick.”

Kaito shrugged, he winced a bit due to the arrow in his arm but played it off. “No sense of putting on a show with no audience, right? I suppose I could give an impromptu speech just for you though.” 

He took a step backwards and raised his arms up. 

_ “All the world’s a stage! And one man in his time plays many parts,”  _ he recited. “That’s by Shakespeare. And I play the role of Mastermind in this killing life! Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Actor!”

He bowed dramatically, as if expecting applause and flowers.

“Tch, get off the stage,” said Kokichi.

Maybe the poison still had a strong effect on him, and Kokichi was simply hallucinating. The guy in front of him seemed so far removed from what Kokichi was used to.

“What’s with that look? Are you surprised?” asked Kaito with a lazy grin. “You never did write anything about me on that whiteboard of yours.”

“You betrayed the rest of the group’s trust,” Kokichi chose to say instead. “You betrayed Saihara-chan.”

“I haven’t betrayed him; I meant every word I’ve ever said to him.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked a bit forlorn.  _ “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” _

“Is that gonna be your shtick? Wow, Momota-chan is pretentious.”

Kaito apparently chose to ignore that remark. He talked as he started to take a few steps forward to close the distance between them. “Sure, I had other motives, but a true man helps those in need. It was obvious Shuichi would need support after Akamatsu died. Ya know, she was set to be the protagonist? That’s how the crew marketed this season, but then she went and murdered someone. Things went off script, so the moment her execution was over I knew I had to change plans.”

All this talk, it was infuriating for Kokichi. His suspicions were seemingly true, there was an audience somewhere enjoying their misery. The world hadn’t ended and the Gofer Project was just a crazy story made up for drama in this show. He wondered if Kaito had come up with the whole idea of a space colony; it sounded like something he’d like.

“So you saved the show by personally taking Saihara-chan under your wing; seems like such a cliche that the best friend turns out to be the bad guy. Are you some kind of shounen villain?”

“Hey! Cliches can be damn useful if you make them your own!” bit back Kaito. He stopped walking just a bit out of Kokichi’s reach. The comment seemed to have bothered him more than he’d like to admit. It amused Kokichi how he could still rile the other teen up with his taunts. 

“You got extra close to the detective and the assassin, and tried to have everyone like and trust you. That’s a big role you made for yourself. What does the audience think of you?”

“I’ve got my fans; people always need some hope in a killing game, even if it’s fake.”

Kokichi laughed. He was lightheaded and still bleeding, but at least the shaking had calmed down. Maybe with a good distraction, he could hit the taller boy in the dick and make a run for it. He raised his arms to his chest like an excited kid. “Nishishi, I bet I’m more popular than you though~”

“You’re definitely a show-stealer, I’ll give ya that much.” He glared down at Kokichi. “Don’t think you can punch me again like before; I’m tougher than I let on earlier.”

“Wooow, did you fake your whole illness or something?” 

Even if that was the case, it wouldn’t stop him from trying. He rushed to kick at Kaito, only for the other boy to step back and dodge. Rather than trying again, Kokichi made a break for the door. He grabbed the handle but it was a large, heavy, metal door that wouldn’t budge. One of Kaito’s hands slammed the space near Kokichi’s head, the other grabbed his shoulder and shoved him against the cold metal. Kokichi gasped when the arrow in his back dug deeper into his skin.

“Ya know, soon enough you’re gonna need more antidote,” said Kaito. He flinched when the smaller teen succeeded in kicking his shin, but his grip didn’t falter. “A tiny dosage is gonna metabolize faster than all the poison in your system, and your symptoms will kick up again.”

Kokichi glared up and laughed bitterly. “Haha! Are you trying to get me on your side? I’d rather you just kill me now.”

“I know you won’t be my sidekick in all this, but I’d rather not kill one of my best costars.” His hand on the door slid over to grab a hold of Kokichi’s thin wrist. “You went through a lot of trouble trying to stop the killing game. It was infuriatingly impressive.”

“Jealous are we?”

“I take comfort in knowing you wouldn’t have done half the shit you did if I wasn’t pulling some of the others strings,” he said smugly. “Now, I can’t just lose what we’ve got going on between us. Viewership has been on the decline the last couple of seasons, but this year is different! I’ve gotten the most views for a mastermind in ages!”

“Well then, you’re very welcome,” said Kokichi in a fake, cheery tone. “I’ve got no memory of how I even signed up for this show, but I’m soooo glad I got to help fuel Momota-chan’s sky high ego!”

“I dunno how you joined the casting call, but maybe it was the same as me?”

“I don’t wanna hear whatever sob story you came up with.”

Kaito laughed and paid no mind to the other teen. “ _ To be or not to be, that is the question _ ,” quoted Kaito. He knelt down closer to Kokichi’s eye level, his purple eyes were bright. “What would you rather be? Some nobody just going through life; staying passive until your eventual slow death? Or, would you fight against all your troubles?

His response was only an irritated glare.

“Most folk think they can make the latter idea work. Make the impossible, possible.” He chuckled softly, like there was something funny about it all. “But I realized some time ago- both options are pretty hopeless if you think about it. If you fight then you’ll just speed up death, and there’s no guarantee that you made your mark on the world.”

He looked visibly depressed at his own words. His grip tightened and would surely leave some bruises on the smaller boy. 

“Is that suppose to make me feel sorry for you?” mocked Kokichi. 

“Hah! Even in front of the mastermind, you’ll still act like a little shit! But that’s alright...” 

He paused mid sentence to lift Kokichi’s hand towards his lips. The supreme leader could do nothing more but watch in frustration. 

“I like that about you. You’re a wonderful antagonist, Ouma,” Kaito said, brushing the words over Kokichi’s knuckles.

“I might have played the villain, but I’m not a killer.”

_ “O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!” _ Kaito laughed and stood up straight, clutching both of Kokichi’s hands. “You’re gonna try that line  **now** ?! After you set up Gonta to die?”

“He agreed to my plan.”

“And look where things ended up!” He pulled and spun the smaller boy around, like he was trying to start dancing. “Face it, you lead someone to their death. How is it any different from what I’ve been doing?!”

Kokichi grimaced at the sudden pain caused by his body being jerked around like that. His vision went blurry and his legs wobbled. Kaito pulled him closer, letting Kokichi’s head rest on his chest.

“Ouma, you shouldn’t have to die right now,” said Kaito with far more softness than he had any right to. He started to gently stroke Kokichi’s dark hair. “It’d be too boring; you deserve a more marvelous finale.”

“Nishishi, you’re fucking awful,” laughed Kokichi. His expression quickly darkened as tears pricked his eyes. “Death isn’t some fun spectacle to be gawked at!”

His hair was pulled roughly, forcing him to look up at Kaito. 

“I’d argue that the past four trials are proof of the opposite,” he said. A cold smile adorned his face. “Still, I don’t want you to give up  _ just _ yet. I’ll figure out a way to keep you alive, and you can keep trying to end the killing game. Won’t that make things interesting?”

**Author's Note:**

> When I played the game, I briefly toyed with the idea of Kaito being the Mastermind as a parallel to Kokichi pretending to be the mastermind. I finally decided to take a shot at writing a bit of how I imagine he'd be like, I used the idea of Ultimate Actor which I'd seen around tumblr. I really like it and think it works well for him. Oh, and the idea of Kaito quoting Shakespeare is actually a reference to another character that his original VA voices >:3c  
> I've got bits of ideas for this concept, I've even thought of outfit ideas lol, but it's not enough for me to try writing trials 5 & 6 rn. Maybe in the future I'll revisit the idea  
> thanks for reading~ feedback is appreciated~~


End file.
